North Carolina Real Estate License Requirements

General Requirements for an North Carolina Real Estate License

1) All applicants must be at least 18 years of age.

2) All applicants must be a U.S. citizen, a non-citizen national or a qualified alien under federal law, or have a lawful presence in the U.S. and be authorized to work in the U.S. in the real estate brokerage field.
3) All applicants must have a social security number.

We encourage all students to carefully read through the Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina booklet, which provides a detailed description of the entire licensing process.

Here is a summary of the 4 steps you need to take in order to get your North Carolina Provisional Broker’s license.

Step 1: Complete the 75-Hour NC Broker Pre-Licensing Course

The 75-hour NC Broker Pre-Licensing course must be taken with an approved education provider according to the North Carolina Real Estate Commission.

The pre-licensing course must follow the Commission’s required syllabus.

The course can be taken online or in-person. Most students prefer to take the course online as it gives them more flexibility, and they can generally complete the course more quickly.

The course includes a proctored, end-of-course exam.
The end-of-course exam includes 100 multiple-choice questions with a passing grade of 80%.

You will receive your Course Completion Certificate as soon as you pass the end-of-course exam. You will eventually use the information provided on the Course Completion Certificate to complete your license application.

RealEstateU will send your course completion information to the Commission within one week.

Step 2: Submit a License Application and Complete Your Background Check

Once you complete the 75-hour NC Broker Pre-Licensing course, you must create your account through the NC Real Estate Commission’s website.

Before you can submit your license application; however, you must submit a criminal record report, which was generated within 6 months of filing your license application.

A criminal record report must be obtained from CriminalRecordCheck.com. The cost of the report varies depending on the location.

Once you have your criminal record report, you can submit your license application online and pay the $100 application fee using a credit card.

Once your application is processed, the Commission will email you a Notice of Exam Eligibility within 2-3 days. Your Notice of Exam Eligibility is valid for 180 days.

Woman with laptop in Florida real estate course

Step 3: Schedule and Pass Your State Licensing Exam

The Commission recommends that you wait at least one business day following receipt of your Exam Eligibility before contacting PSI to schedule your exam. This gives PSI enough time to upload your eligibility record from the Commission.

The state licensing exam is administered by PSI at one of PSI’s testing centers.
You can make your exam appointment online through PSI’s website, or by phone at 800-733-9267.

The state licensing exam consists of a national portion and a state portion.
The national portion consists of 80 multiple-choice questions with a time limit of 120 minutes. You must answer at least 57 out of the 80 questions correctly in order to pass.
The state portion consists of 40 multiple-choice questions with a time limit of 90 minutes. You must answer at least 29 out of 40 questions correctly in order to pass.

In addition to the 120 scored questions, the exam will include additional pretest questions (5-10 national questions and 5 state questions), which do not count towards your exam score.
These pretest questions are experimental questions, which are included to help develop future exams.

You must pass both sections of the exam within 180 days in order to pass the overall exam. If you only pass one section of the exam within 180 days, you must reapply to take the exam and pass both sections during the subsequent 180-day exam eligibility period.

You will receive your exam grade immediately after completing the exam.
PSI will send your exam results each time to the Commission, regardless if you passed or failed the exam.

The state licensing exam costs $64 for the first attempt, which is paid directly to PSI.

It is important to note that the $100 application fee PLUS the $64 examination fee will be collected each time an applicant takes one or both sections of the license examination.